stiffening keys

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Ed,
              I have had success by painting the keys with water thin CA 
glue, two or three coats will be needed.  Tops bottoms and sides..  Those 
Pratt Reed keys are prone to warping and twisting.  Straighten all keys 
with a heat gun, before application, it will also prevent them twisting 
back, and make them more stable.  Staples sells 1/4" dia sticky labels that 
you can you can stick on to protect the balance rail hole.  Glue at or 
around the balance rail hole will cause unwanted clicks.

I have used West Systems Epoxy, but found little difference, the 24hr dry 
time is the drawback.

Hope this helps.
Roger



At 08:22 AM 8/29/2007, you wrote:
>Greetings,
>    I have been wondering what to do with a mid-sixties Steinway.  It has 
> the Pratt-Read keys and they are sorta limber. I think this is due to the 
> poor wood, and lack of large plates.
>so,  since there is no budget for rebuilding the keys with new buttons and 
>larger plates top and bottom,  I have been wondering whether there is any 
>stiffening to be gained by simply painting the sides of the keys with West 
>System epoxy.  It seems that it would gain something by soaking into the 
>wood.  I even thought about laying some strands of carbon fibers along the 
>middle length and painting the epoxy over them,(I have seen this done on 
>motorcycle fairing repairs, and was amazed at the strength it imparted).
>    Anybody tried this?
>thanks,
>
>
>
>Ed Foote RPT
>
>
>
>**************************************
>Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at 
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